Falkland
Islands - Antarctic Travel

Falkland Islands - Overseas territory of
the UK also claimed by Argentina.

Location - Off the south east tip of South
America, part of the "Scotia Arc"

Territory - 2 main islands (about 200 in
total), West and East Falkland. 12173sq.km. total

Capital - Stanley (Port Stanley)

Population - approx. 2 900

Highest Point - Mt. Usborne 705m (2,312ft)

Languages - English

Ethnic group - British

Currency - Falkland Island Pound FKP

The Falkland Islands are one of those places
that you're sure you've heard about, but would
probably be hard pushed to actually say where they are.
In that lies the charm of the Falklands.

The Falkland Islands may be included in a trip to
the Antarctic Peninsula, they will almost certainly
be included in a trip that takes in South Georgia.

They are a place where the modern world has most
certainly arrived, but that manages to maintain much
of the lure and appeal of a time gone by. A place that
seems somehow vaguely familiar but not quite in "that
combination" of people, town, scenery, climate
and wildlife. The Falklands are sometimes described
as being "More British than Britain".

The Falklands are a place of wide open skies,
beautiful long white sandy beaches and clear blue seas. Ask
someone where the Falklands are and the answer you might
get is that they are off the West Coast of Scotland,
thousands of miles out in geographical terms, but very
close in a lot of other ways.

Where they are not similar is that in the Falklands
a walk along the beach may bring you in contact with
five different types of penguin, elephant seals, sea
lions an assortment of other South American and Antarctic
birds such as albatrosses and petrels, and if you're
lucky some dolphins or whales will be swimming off shore.

The Falkland Islands are fairly remote and definitely
off the beaten track. They're not the kind of place
that you end up visiting on your way to somewhere else
unless you make a definite choice to do so. They are
for the adventurous trail blazer and for the traveller
who relishes the idea of visiting a distant place that
few before them have travelled to.

The capital of the Falklands and the only town
of any size is Port Stanley. A charming settlement
of houses on a gentle hillside overlooking the magnificent
natural harbour. Like many islands the world over, the
local availability of building materials dictates the
character of the town and Stanley is first noted for
the brightly painted corrugated iron roofs to many of
the dwellings. There is a fine old church here with
an arch made of the jaw bones of four huge whales that
give a clue to one of the sources of the islands prosperity
in the past.

While in the Falklands you will hear mention of a
place called "The Camp". This is the entire
rest of the Falkland Islands other than the less than
1% that is Stanley.

Physical environment

The Falklands are geologically a part of Patagonia
and the Scotia arc that stretches from the southern tip of South
America eastwards through the Falklands and on to South Georgia,
before arcing south and westwards to the South Sandwich, South
Orkney and South Shetland islands to join with the tip of the
Antarctic peninsula.

There are two main islands in the Falklands group, they are
roughly equal in size and make up almost the total land mass
of the islands, others in the group are numerous but very small.

The islands have a cold maritime climate with an average
of 2.8° C (37° F) in the winter and 8.3° C (47°
F) in the summer. Humidity is constantly high, and rain falls
on about 250 days of the year. November is the driest month.

The Falklands are very windswept, and have virtually
no trees. The commonest vegetation being grasses and a small
shrub with red berries known locally as "Diddle Dee".
Attempts have been made to plant trees, but with little success,
though some do grow in Stanley where they are able to derive
shelter from the buildings.

The main Islands have coastlines that are very indented and
provide many natural sheltered harbors, very similar to the
Pacific coast of Patagonia.

There is very little pollution of any kind in the Falklands,
the beaches in particular are great clean expanses of
pale sand that look like they belong in the tropics. Fresh air
is almost the only kind there is here and away from Stanley
the loudest noise in the landscape on a still day can be the
sound of your heartbeat.

Falklands / Antarctica cruises
and fly-cruise options

Fly - Cruise via the Falkland Islands. The
diagrams above show two representative trips that include the
Falkland Islands. In a similar way the flights across the Drake
passage to save sailing time, it is possible to fly from Santiago
or Punta Arenas to the Falkland Islands at the start and end
of a cruise, this is sometimes an option on cruises that visit
South Georgia and the Peninsula, so there is a time saving,
though you still cross the Drake Passage by ship. Depending
on the cruise itinerary, there may be one or two flights.

Why visit the Falkland Islands?

Some Antarctic cruises take in the Falkland Islands
and they offer a good introduction, straddling many of the characteristics
of the lands and seas both to the south and the north.

Having
said this, unless you are a particularly dedicated naturalist
or have some other specific reason for visiting, while the Falklands
are well worth a few days of your time on a cruise, they are
not really worth staying around for much longer for the average
tourist.

They have plentiful wildlife that is very approachable and
they present in the main an unspoiled landscape.

The remoteness, difficulty of getting there not to mention
the costs once there, mean that the Falklands come a second
to many other places in the world as a destination in their
own right.

Verdict

An interesting, unusual and beautiful place
to visit as part of an organized cruise, A very desirable destination
in its own right for serious birdwatchers in particular.

As a place to visit, the Falklands
are the "gateway" to Antarctica- in between the
world as you know it and the wild South.

* Prices are based per person, the lowest
price is usually for triple occupancy in a basic cabin, the highest for double occupancy
in the best available suite.

Options may be at additional cost and are usually booked when the cruise is booked
- it may be too late once the cruise has started. Picture credits: Penguin pictures used
courtesy of Ben Tubby under Creative Commons 2.0 license